We've all heard of cryptocurrencies and their numerous applications, but at their core, cryptocurrencies simply allow you to send value from one person to another across the internet without the need for a middleman's permission - true digital money. 

While most people think of Bitcoin as the preferred "digital money," XRP is the true king of crypto payments.

What Is XRP? 

Founded by Ripple, XRP is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation and was developed with one focus in mind - to improve the current traditional banking system.

Ripple recognised that the true power of cryptocurrency lies in using the underlying technology to solve today's inefficiencies in cross-border remittance and traditional banking payments. So in 2012, Ripple created the XRP Ledger - their blockchain - to do exactly this. 

The primary goal of the XRP Ledger is to take on and replace the world's payment system, also known as the SWIFT system. By connecting banks, payment providers, and crypto asset exchanges, the XRP Ledger intends to use distributed ledger technology to facilitate faster and more cost-effective global payments.

The power of the XRP Ledger lies in the fact that it removes the need for mining - reducing the computational power and energy needed to secure its network.

The native crypto asset of the XRP Ledger,  XRP,  aims to be the medium of exchange for global cross-border payments by acting as a bridge currency between countries.

How Does It Work? 

The XRP Ledger draws on several aspects of Bitcoin’s design. Like Bitcoin, XRP uses cryptography to allow its users to send and receive cryptocurrencies securely. 

Unlike Bitcoin, which uses mining and specialised computing hardware to secure its ledger and verify transactions, the XRP Ledger employs a trust-based consensus mechanism in which only ‘unique nodes’ can verify transactions. Using this trust-based design, XRP nodes can quickly validate transactions, provided at least 80% of participants deem them to be valid according to software rules.

Unlike Bitcoin, where transaction data is verified as "untrustworthy" by thousands of miners around the world, the XRP Ledger has a trusted set of validators that validates the majority of transactions.

Only 35 validators are marked in a so-called "Unique Node List" globally, and Ripple, the founding company, decides who qualifies to be on this list.

What Makes XRP Unique?  

XRP is the fastest payment-based cryptocurrency in the industry. 

1. Environmental sustainability

XRP is 61 000x more energy efficient than current Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchains like Bitcoin. XRP does not require mining to validate transactions, therefore reducing the computational power and energy needed to secure the network.

2. Near-instant transactions and low costs

Irrespective of the size and location, XRP transactions have confirmation times of 3-5 seconds. These high-speed transactions are completed at close to zero cost, with the average cost per transaction around $0.0002. 

3. Scalability

The XRP ledger has consistently handled 1 500 transactions per second with no running issues. This is impressive when compared to Bitcoins 4-6 transactions per second. The XRP network plans to rival more centralised payment processors such as Visa, which processes around 2 000 transactions per second.

4. Powerful developer utility

The team at Ripple has partnered with the global XRPL developer community to try and build the greenest infrastructure for blockchain applications and innovations.

Where Can I Invest In XRP?

Altify has added XRP to its cryptocurrency product offering. Altify brings simplicity, trust and excellent customer service to investing in crypto assets. Its easy-to-use online platform enables you to securely own the world’s top crypto assets in just a few clicks. 

Invest in XRP here fee free until the 3rd of November and start your journey with as little as R150.